Dr. Strangelove (Comedy) (1964) © 2001 by Raymond Weschler Major Characters General Jack Ripper............Sterling Hayden A clearly insane US Airforce General who decides to personally launch a nuclear attack against the Soviet Union. Captain Lionel Mandrake.........Peter Sellers Ripper’s charming English executive officer who tries to stop Ripper from starting a nuclear war. General Buck Turgidson..........George C. Scott The somewhat crazy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (The Joint Chiefs advise the President on military issues). President Merkin Muffley.........Peter Sellers The nice and normal President of the United States. Major King Kong..................Slim Pickins The colorful pilot of an Air Force Jet that goes to bomb Russia. Dr. Strangelove.................Peter Sellers President Muffley’s German advisor on nuclear weapons, who may be as insane as General Ripper. Plot Summary This is Hollywood’s most famous attempt to look at the dangers of the Cold War, made just two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis almost resulted in an actual nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. It is the story of General Jack Ripper, a clearly insane US Air Force General who decides to launch a nuclear strike against the Soviet Union because he is convinced the communists are out to secretly take over the world by fluoridating the water (Fluoride is a substance that had been added to much of the US water supply since the 1950s in order to fight tooth decay, but many extremely conservative Americans truly thought it was a "communist plot"). After General Ripper orders the airplanes at his base to attack the Soviets, Captain Mandrake, a British officer, tries to figure out the secret code that will tell the airplanes to abandon the attack and return to base. Meanwhile, General Turgidson and the military’s other top leaders must explain to President Muffley the options available in this emergency. Turgidson himself soon argues for a massive follow-up attack to prevent the Soviets from successfully counter-attacking with their own nuclear weapons, but the President decides to try and help the Soviets knock down whatever planes the Americans can not successfully communicate with (Once the planes cross into Soviet airspace, they are instructed to respond only to a secret three letter code, that apparently, only General Ripper knows!). Unfortunately, the situation is complicated by the fact that the Soviet ambassador to the United States reveals to the American government that the Soviets possess a "doomsday device" that will automatically destroy virtually all life on earth if his country is ever attacked, and thus if just one US plane is not stopped, it could mean the end of civilization! Of course, for General Turgidson and Dr. Strangelove, such news is not entirely bad, for it may give the Un责任编辑:yechenglu
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